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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610962">Usual (Wish You Could Stay)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn'>slotumn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Wherever the Wind May Take Us [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, Late Night Conversations, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Romance, no beta we die like Glenn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:20:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of her wishes it could stay this way, but nonetheless, this will be their last time having these late night talks at the library.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Wherever the Wind May Take Us [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Usual (Wish You Could Stay)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Sorry for telling you this last minute."</p><p>"I already figured it was something like that when you brought the Almyran troops."</p><p>The two of them met in the library, late at night, with some sweets to accompany them, as usual.</p><p>"Clever girl, I'll give you A+ for perceptiveness."</p><p>"Claude, are you really-- oh, forget it, it was my fault for expecting you to stay serious for once."</p><p>But after tonight, there would no more "usual." That should be a good thing.</p><p>"I can't help it, you're cute when you react like that."</p><p>"What do you mean, "cute?" I'm long past being everyone's little sister figure."</p><p>"You know, in general. You'll always be cute to me no matter how old you get."</p><p>She flinched, far more conspicuously than she wanted to.</p><p>"Lysithea...? Are you feeling alright?"</p><p>"I'm fine. Just..."</p><p>Silence. </p><p>"...You'll be busy in Almyra for the next few years, right."</p><p>"I'll still be visiting around the border, for diplomacy. If you ever want to see me, you can always hitch along with Hilda or Lorenz or Marianne to Fódlan's Locket."</p><p>"That completely defeats my goal of staying out of politics."</p><p>"You don't need to get involved in the political parts. Just say you're there to visit an old...friend, who also happens to be the king of Almyra."</p><p>"...I don't want to bother you."</p><p>"W-wha-- you won't be bothering me. At all."</p><p>A stutter. That was rare.</p><p>"And even if you were, I've bothered you a lot, so it's only fair you get to do it back, right?"</p><p>She stole a glance upward. </p><p>His expression was earnest, maybe even a little bit desperate. </p><p>(Or perhaps that was just her imagination. The sharp perception he complimented her on a few minutes ago always got distorted around him, ironically enough.)</p><p>"Well, if you put it like that..."</p><p>His hands moved across the table to hers, more carefully and hesitantly than anyone who only saw him during the day would have ever imagined.</p><p>"Look, I know this is the part where we all...go our own ways in life and such, but that doesn't mean we have to grow apart."</p><p>"We?"</p><p>"You know, our classmates, comrades, Teach, everyone we've met and fought alongside..."</p><p>A gentle squeeze. </p><p>"...and the two of us."</p><p>The two of them.</p><p>How she wished that could be true.</p><p>If she kept seeing him, if they kept having an excuse to be "usual" to each other, that would only make things more difficult in the end.</p><p>Smart thing to do would be to cut it off. </p><p>"...Alright, I can do as you suggested. But--"</p><p>She picked up one of the pastries left on the table.</p><p>"--only if you bring more of...these."</p><p>"Baklava?"</p><p>"Yes, they're delicious. I wonder how all these thin layers are made...there must be some sort of trick to it, right?"</p><p>"If you like them that much, I'll bring the recipe, too."</p><p>"Maybe we can try making some together, if they have anything resembling a kitchen in Fódlan's Locket."</p><p>"Sounds like a deal! I'm already looking forward to it."</p><p>He smiled-- a real one that went up to the eyes, and it was difficult to not follow suit.</p><p>It's unfair, she thought, I can't win against that.</p><p>"Just remember to brush your teeth afterwards, or else you'll get cavities~"</p><p>"Nevermind, I'm just going to take the recipe and run."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The dynamic I have in mind for these two at the end of the war is that you'd have to be really dumb to not know these two are a thing, but they've never said it outright/made it "official" to themselves or others, both for their own reasons.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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